The best of LangaList Plus from 2013

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The best of LangaList Plus from 2013

By Fred Langa

Subscribers to the paid version of Windows Secrets are familiar with Fred Langa's weekly LangaList Plus. This week, everyone can enjoy the best of the 2013 columns. These Q & A sessions are for computer users of all levels. Many paid Windows Secrets readers save these articles for future troubleshooting reference.

Have you looked at "WhoCrashed" (http://www.resplendence.com/whocrashed) for crash analysis? Using the crash dump, it gives easy to understand information about what is likely to have caused a crash (and doesn't require anyone to deal with the dreadful details of a crash dump). By far the best tool ever for dealing with BSODs.

You've been "drinking the coolaid" passed out by MS Marketing (grin!).

Windows 8/8.1 actually does have a non-destructive "re-install". It is called "Refresh". Out of the box, Refresh uses a default image that does not include "traditional"/"desktop" applications (ie MS Office) that have been installed. This was a major hang up for me before Win 8 was released, ie "what a useless tool!".

What MS forgets to mention, and that most reviewers don't find, is that Win 8 ships with a complimentary tool called RecImg.EXE. This tool generates new "image" files that captures installed desktop programs. So the theory would be, after you install a "desktop" application and finish configuring it you would run RecImg.EXE to capture the newly installed program.

2 tb drive limit and GPT

Hmmm, Brave man, Fred is...Yeeeesssss....

GPT uses 64-bit addressing, which lets it handle drives up to nearly 10 zettabytes (ZB). (Zetta- indicates a one followed by 21 zeros! For comparison, a terabyte is designated by one followed by 12 zeros.) It'll be a long, long time before we outgrow GPT.